Category Archives: photography

natural history, photography, pleasures, science

Pieces of Pigeon

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If you’re overly squeamish, or don’t like bits of things, then you might be advised to look away now.

A few weeks ago we discovered a decaying pigeon carcass hidden in a nook in the garden. When examined it was little but a collection of decaying feathers and bones; it had clearly been lying in it’s last resting place for some months. We managed, without too much mess, to salvage the breastbone and the skull.

Pigeon Sternum & Skull
Click on any of the images for larger views on Flickr

Having soaked them overnight in mild detergent (aka. shampoo) and given them a careful scrub with an old toothbrush they were allowed to dry thoroughly. Then I bleached and disinfected them twice, again overnight, in hydrogen peroxide, allowing them to dry thoroughly in between. They have then been sitting drying thoroughly again in the bathroom for a week or more.

(Whether this is anything like an approved method for preparing such specimens, I have no idea. I more or less made it up as I went along, and it seems to have worked. Being a chemist helps!)

Pigeon Sternum & Skull

These are the resulting photographs. The structures are amazing. Some of the delicate structure of the brain case can be discerned. So can the wonderfully intricate fine structure which is actually within the bone of the sternum (birds have very light bones filled with air-sacs which is I think what we’re seeing). The sternum especially is beautiful to handle: it weighs absolutely nothing, literally no more than a feather, and it feels like the most gorgeous and delicate waxed paper, something which isn’t so obvious with the skull.

Pigeon Skull

Just for the record …
The skull is 56mm from back to the tip of the bill, 20mm high, 20mm wide.
The sternum is 72mm long, 48mm high, 50mm wide.

Pigeon Sternum from Above

Next time you’re destroying a roast chicken (or even your cat’s next mouse) stop for a few minutes and look at the amazing structures before throwing the carcass in the bin. If you really want to see what the bones are like, boil them down in clean water (you can use the water for stock! — no maybe not the mouse!), clean them, then bleach them (domestic beach or hydrogen peroxide is fine; but not acid) and wash well in clean water; leave them to dry thoroughly. Finally be amazed.

This is why I love science and natural history.

personal, photography, pleasures

Reasons to be Grateful: 30

Experiment, week 30. Another week, another selection in my continuing experiment in documenting five things which have made me happy or for which I’m grateful this week.

But the whoe week has been very Meh, at best — grey, wet, windy, not very warm and generally crap. In fact it’s been so Meh one wonders how to find 5 good things to highlight!

  1. The Experiment Continues. Yes, that is worth mentioning because we are now halfway through the 60 weeks I set out for this experiment to last. Overall over the last year I do seem to be less depressed — I keep a very qualitative track of my mood (just on a scale of +3 to -3) and I’m definitely having more good days than I was. How much this experiment is the cause, or the hypnotherapy, or something else, I have no idea. I’m just glad things are better than they were; it’ll be good if we can keep the upward trend.
  2. Waking up with a Pussy. Several mornings this week I’ve awoken with Harry the Cat sleeping by my head. And there’s nothing like a warm furry pussy first thing in the morning. Maybe this should count as two ticks?
  3. Smoked Chicken. I’m sure I’ve said this one before, but Waitrose do smoked chicken breasts, and they aren’t any more expensive that ordinary cold roast chicken. They usually have quite long “use by” dates so we often have a couple in the fridge as a stand-by so we can throw together a quick, and very yummy salad if ever we decide we don’t want to cook. Especially good with an olive oil and lemon dressing.

    Peonies & Sunflowers
    Click the image for larger version

  4. Sunshine. There’s been so little sunshine this week that the few odd spells of sun and blue sky we’ve had have been so very welcome.
  5. Peonies & Sunflowers (photo above, which sorry I also used yesterday!). We bought these from Waitrose on Friday. They’re magnificent! They’re in a handmade pottery jug by Dave Brown of Merriott, Somerset (which we bought from the man himself some 30-ish years ago). Don’t they look very “Dutch flower painting”!
photography

Buggered Britain 10

Another in my occasional series documenting some of the underbelly of Britain. Britain which we wouldn’t like visitors to see and which we wish wasn’t there. The trash, abused, decaying, destitute and otherwise buggered parts of our environment. Those parts which symbolise the current economic malaise; parts which, were the country flourishing, wouldn’t be there, would be better cared for, or made less inconvenient.

Buggered Britain 10
Click the image for larger view

This is the road junction near our house. They are replacing the old gas mains. The works were due to start on 2 April (they did) and last 8 weeks. They are still there digging holes today (8 June), that’s already 10 weeks and there is probably at least 2 weeks work still to do. Oh and where are the workmen? At no time have I seen more than two men in attendance.

photography, pleasures, science

More Kew

Here are a handful more photos from our visit to Kew Gardens on Saturday.

Click the images for larger versions
Lotus
Not a water lily but the sacred Lotus flower
growing in the Water Lily House

<i>Echinocactus grusonii</i>
Echinocactus grusonii
in the Princess of Wales Conservatory

Indian Horse Chestnut
The last of the Indian Horse Chestnut flowers

Lily Pond
The Water Lily Pond:
what a delightful spot on a sunny day!

Pagoda
The Pagoda looking drab in the dreary weather

General Pershing
Finally another tropical water lily, this is Nymphaea cv. “General Pershing”
in the Water Lily House

photography

The Photo Gallery: Sunshine

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The subject of Tara’s Gallery this week is Sunshine. So I offer you this …

Butterfly

This was taken during our September 2009 trip to Washington, DC; actually in the herb garden of the National Cathedral.

The whole garden was swarming with butterflies in the September sun, which was unseasonably hot. There were lots of these ranging in colour from pale cream through canary yellow (as this one) and pale green and pale orange. Don’t know if they were all the same species, but they all looked the same apart from the colouring.

And there were also lots of Monarch butterflies and several delightful hummingbirds, which I totally failed to be quick enough to capture.

photography

Buggered Britain 9

Another in my occasional series documenting some of the underbelly of Britain. Britain which we wouldn’t like visitors to see and which we wish wasn’t there. The trash, abused, decaying, destitute and otherwise buggered parts of our environment. Those parts which symbolise the current economic malaise; parts which, were the country flourishing, wouldn’t be there, would be better cared for, or made less inconvenient.

Buggered Britain 9
Click the image for larger views

This is London’s iconic Hyde Park Corner, at the junction of Piccadilly, Knightsbridge and Park Lane a couple of Sunday mornings ago. It was taken from the top of the Wellington Arch (now open to the public). What a mess!

photography

Gallery : Picture Postcard

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This week is the 100th showing of Tara’s Gallery, and for the theme she has of course chosen Picture Postcard. So here’s a postcard from me …

Double Departure from Alexisbad

Double Departure from Alexisbad

This is from a set of Steam in the Harz Mountains, Germany taken on a RailTrail tour in February 2008. It was taken, as the title suggests, at Alexisbad during a steam charter from Quedlinberg to Wernigerode.

This was a special photoshoot staged for our group; the train on the right is our charter train; the one on the left was a service train which had just terminated at Alexisbad. And I must say it was a magnificent sight and not something you will see these days during normal service.

It was a fantastic trip with travel entirely by train from London: well organised, excellent and interesting tour leaders, good company, good food and lots of trains! As well as this full day charter the five day trip also included a tour of the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen works, a trip up the Broken Mountain (yes, by steam train) and a stop-over in Wuppertal for a ride on the Schwebebahn, their hanging monorail.

The only thing missing was the snow that we should have rightly had in February!

In five days the only train that was late was the return Thalys service from Köln to Brussels, and that was by the staggering amount of just 10 minutes.

An absolutely first class trip which really wasn’t long enough!

Lots more of my photos from the trip on Flickr.

photography, pleasures

The Gallery : Morning

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The Gallery is back! Tara who runs The Gallery has been ill, but I’m glad that she’s now OK and this week it is once more open for business. This week’s theme is Morning, so without more ado, here’s my contribution:

Crows on a Crane

This was taken at the end of our trip to Germany in February 2008 for steam trains on the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen (HSB). HSB consists of the three narrow gauge (1m) railway lines of the Harz region: Harzquerbahn, Selketalbahn and Brockenbahn.

This was taken the morning we left for home; it was about 0720 local time and very cold. While we waited for the train from Wernigerode Hbf at sunrise these crows were having their morning briefing meeting on the crane of the building site next to the station.

There are more photos from the trip on Flickr.

photography, pleasures

Another Orchid

No not another new plant — I don’t think I have room for more! — but another photo of one my existing plants.

Phalaenopsis Orchid

This is the orchid my mother gave me last year after it had flowered, and which I’ve managed to get back into flower. It is absolutely amazing. There are 13 flowers on this one stem with a couple of bids still to open — and it’s been in flower now for about 8 weeks.